News broke today that legendary manga-ka Akira Toriyama has passed away at the age of 68. This has been a great shock to fans, who have loved his manga and anime for decades. Let’s learn more details about his passing in this blog post.
What Did Akira Toriyama Pass Away From?
According to a letter posted on the @DB_official_en X account, Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st due to acute subdural hematoma, a brain clot. The letter thanked fans for their support of the legendary manga creator during his lifetime, and gave details that the funeral would be a private affair with family members and close friends only.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that manga creator Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st. Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
Just last week, I wrote a blog post trying to rank Japan’s most legendary creators. Naturally, Toriyama-sensei was at the top of my list of legendary manga artists who made a deep mark on fans not just in Japan but literally all over the world. In the post I talked about a Japanese TV show that sends camera crews to different countries and asks foreigners to name the most famous Japanese they can think of. In every case, the Dragon Ball creator was one of the top three names on the list, with millions of avid fans from Brazil to Belgium.
His Road to Fame as a Manga Artist
Akira Toriyama was born in Nagoya in 1955. As a boy, he was thrilled with the Disney film One Hundred and One Dalmations and started drawing the characters from the film. He won several prizes in elementary school for his art. After high school, he got a job as a designer in an advertising firm, but hated the culture of working at the company, and resigned after two years.
Suddenly without income, Toriyama wondered what he should do with his future. Then he happened to see an advertisement for entries into a manga-drawing contest in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and he started work on a gag manga to submit. He failed to complete the work in time for the contest but sent it in to the magazine anyway. His submission caught the attention of editor Kazuhiko Torishima, who encouraged the young artist to keep drawing and submitting work. Akira Toriyama worked hard, continuing to rack up rejections but improving his art with each attempt.
Akira Torishima made his debut in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1978, using his real name. This led to fans calling him at home, which embarrassed him and his family. (The story of Kakishigoto, about a gag manga artist who inadvertently debuted under his real name, causing him to work hard to hide his fame as a manga artist from his daughter, is an obvious reference to this.) Toriyama’s first major work was Dr. Slump, a gag manga about a scientist who creates a robot android named Arale-chan. That character has become as well-known in Japan as Archie and Friends in the West.
Naturally, Toriyama is most famous for Dragon Ball because of the huge popularity the manga and anime achieved worldwide. Funimation was founded in 1994 by a Japanese producer with the specific goal of bringing Dragon Ball to the West, and that certainly worked out well!
Fans React to the Passing of Akira Toriyama
Let’s see how Dragon Ball fans are taking the sad news.
We’ve lost a great man…a visionary…a legend…
This man created a series that shaped so much of my life. From childhood to the present, I was always smiling whenever I had the chance to read or watch anything this man created. RIP to the goat.
I’m shocked. I don’t even know what to say… Thank you for everything, Akira Toriyama, and rest in peace.
Thank you, Akira Toriyama. You have touched so many lives and inspired millions throughout the entire world. May you rest in peace, you will NEVER be forgotten.
Ohhhhh nooooo, so sad to read… I’m not ashamed to admit to being impacted by this man for my entire life. The whole concept of pride and what that means to me was inspired by Akira Toriyama.
You were a legend, sir. Thank you, and rest in peace!
Thanks for reading this blog post about the sad passing of manga artist Akira Toriyama. What is your reaction to the sad news? Share it in the comments below!
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